The inside scoop on food in Los Angeles

Holiday cookies: Keeflees

December 15, 2011 | 8:00
am

Michele Yockey of Arroyo Grande was one of the winners of last year's Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these Keeflees.

"This recipe has been in the family for at least 115 years," she wrote. "My grandmother came from what is now the Czech Republic, and all of her recipes were stored in her head.... At the age of 20, I decided that I would hang out with Grandma in the kitchen as she cooked, in order to preserve some of her wonderful recipes. These holiday cookies were one of the many that I wrote down and have since passed on to my children."

They're among the 50 favorite holiday cookie recipes we've collected in our "Holiday Cookies" e-book, which is on sale now.

All of them have been vetted by The Times' Test Kitchen, so you know they work. Download it on the Amazon Kindle, the Nook or via the iBookstore. Or go straight to the source.

And don't forget to check out this year's winners in this morning's newspaper.

Photo: Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times

Keeflees

Submitted by Michele Yockey of Arroyo Grande

Total time: 1½ hours, plus chilling time

Servings: About 2½ dozen cookies

1½ cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 (3-ounce) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

3½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cups chopped walnuts

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup raisins

Grated peel of one lemon

1 egg white, beaten

Powdered sugar for dusting

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut the cream cheese into the flour mixture, and then work in the butter. Add the whipping cream and vanilla and mix to make a smooth dough, being careful not to overmix.

2. Form the mixture into small walnut-size balls (about 2 teaspoons of dough per ball). They may be a bit sticky, but don't add flour. Put them into a bowl, cover with plastic, and chill overnight.

4. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the balls on a well-floured board to make 4-by-3-inch rectangles. Take a generous teaspoon of the nut mixture and form it into a pencil-shaped log, almost the length of the cookie dough. Place it along the edge of one of the wide sides of a rectangle and roll up the pastry around it. Form the pastry into a crescent shape and turn the ends under, sealing them closed. Continue this way until all the balls are made into crescents. The balls should remain cool. Should they become warm, keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the next ball.

5. Bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.